But then, he’s built 4 mega yachts [1] and spent $400 million+ on mansions [2].
1- https://www.superyachtfan.com/yacht/mogambo/owner/
2- https://www.dirt.com/gallery/moguls/tech/jan-koum-house-beve...
I don't mean this in a disrespectful manner - building and selling WhatsApp was an astounding feat.
I'd definitely want to pursue some hobbies, but I wouldn't expect any of them to make money or change the world. I could at least donate to nonprofits for the latter, though.
Jeepers. I am guessing your other priorities in your life make it so you need to live in an unsafe area?
I am middle aged, and I have never lived anywhere in my hometown Christchurch that had an active security system. In more that one place the front door or back door was never locked. Probably because I just have never owned much worth stealing! Correction: my parents had a security system, but they stopped using it and it stopped working maybe 15 years ago?
I currently live in a particularly safe little area of my city, although I wouldn’t mind having a secret lockup for the few things that can’t be insured. Most rural or small-town New Zealand is even safer than living in my city.
Above said, I do believe thievery is increasing in Christchurch. My friends in Woolston had a small shed ram-raided (failed because the shed builder went overboard on big posts), and those friends have needed to add security cameras to help prevent thieves casing their home. Anecdotally theft in Lyttelton is on the rise.
It may not be so much you live in an area with danger, but the danger comes to your safe area looking for money (ransom).
And not just you, but those around you:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Paul_Getty#Kidnapping_of_gr...
See also "Lottery winner 'regretted scooping £11m' when brother hired hitman to assassinate him":
* https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/lottery-winner-r...
These are outrageously unlikely in my country, and would guess are extremely unlikely even in the USA.
If you are worried about extreme events, then a security system is hardly going to help you. When you win the lottery, you can move or buy a good security system.
The best example I've seen of this is chamillionaire. He had a string of 3-5 hits but diversified and has stayed wealthy while many of the people in a similar vein are broke.
Money is power and power comes with moral responsibility. I think that's why the Gates' started that foundation.
For many people it's easier to feel good about having so much if you can claim that you're using it for good.
I don't know if I agree with that. Are they actually qualified to be wielding that much power? Maybe it's better to just let them spend it on personal luxury or passive philanthropy than to have them start twiddling society's levers just because they have a strong urge to "do something".
Whatever you do with so much dough is gonna have consequences, there's no staying neutral.
Think of it as make-work income for inner city shipyard workers, metal workers, and countless other legacy professions.
At the end of the day, the guy doesn't have the money any more, they all do. So they're happy, and he has a boat.
Note that I'm not saying Gates is a good guy and doesn't use his foundation to exert influence. But, saying he started a foundation to transfer assets while dodging estate tax reeks of "they just write it off...". Wouldn't he have been better off handing over that $66 billion to his children and paying 18% to 40% as taxes?
1- https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/foundation-fact-sheet
In a world where mere 10s of dollars can fund a medical intervention that change s the life of a poor child, having 4 megayachts is obscene.
You could say "he does what he likes", but it doesn't sound smart nor grounded to me.
Not that it makes any financial sense whatsoever, but the scale of wealth is unfathomable. Money no longer makes sense.